needaTEAcher wrote:Howdy! I am going to go to Assam and Darjeeling in late March and early April. Can anyone recommend and specific estates to visit, or places to stay?

We are on a mad budget, so please send us cheap ideas ($50/night hotels are out...more on the order of $10 or less! )

Thanks!

$10 for an Indian hotel in a hill station like Darjeeling will be a challenge. Maybe if 5 of you share a room you might be able to do it.

Going to the different estates will be very time consuming and difficult without a proper guide and vehicle. My suggestion is to make friends with some of the teashop owners, try their teas, and, take their suggestions about where to go and how to get there. I don't think teas are going to be cheaper at the gardens than with the shops if you are thinking that. Going to 3 teashops can give you more choices than you can cope with.

Darjeeling is a very picturesque place but it is not cheap. There are some great views, nice walks, and, plenty of tea. It is a popular place with Indian tourists. It will still be cool in March. Take warm clothes.

We have just over a month for Bangladesh, Nepal, Darjeeling, and Assam, so we don't really lack for time, and the main point of this leg of our trip it to see the tea. We aren't going so much to buy, though we will taste plenty. We want to see it picked, try to get into the plantations to see the production methods we have read about. If anyone knows anyone, I would really appreciate a hookup!

So since time doesn't matter, but money does, any other ideas? Ideally I would like to see some tea being picked. Thanks again!